Back from Paris and on with Life

So much has been happening the last several months since I went M.I.A. I successful survived my first international travel and spent an entire month away from home in Paris (both working and playing). I’ve done some other traveling as well since returning home…. all much closer to home then France, but still fun and happy adventures. Don and I also started a new way of eating to try and get our weight under control (I came back from Paris with about 15 pounds of croissants and baguette weight). We decided 2 months ago (9 weeks to be exact) to start eating KETO. High fat, moderate protein and low carb. I’ll discuss more about our keto journey in a separate blog. We also recently celebrated our one year wedding anniversary! Ahhh… 1 year married, but almost 15 years together (I am apparently a very patient person).

Right now I am going to focus on looking back on the month I lived in Paris! So many good memories and also some tribulations, but regardless of good or bad, this was probably my biggest life adventure…. so far!

I left for Paris May 26th, Memorial weekend. I did not return home until June 24th. I have some mixed feelings about the trip. I am very grateful to my company for sending me on this adventure and allowing me to basically live and work in another country for an entire month. Yet, I cannot say that if given the opportunity I would do it again.

I know it is probably difficult for people to comprehend that a free month long trip to Paris could be anything but fabulous. Yet, it is important to keep in mind that I am someone that deals with pretty extreme anxiety and I suffer from intense panic attacks. To add to this, I also have some OCD issues that I deal with on a daily basis. When you add all of these things together, what I find is best for me to stay as mentally stable as possible is routine. This is part of why I consider myself an introvert. I feel much more comfortable and happy when I am home in my own familiar environment. So, as one can probably detect from all of this, leaving home for a month and going to another country was about as outside of my comfort zone as I could get.

So many Paris memories to share, but to much to put into one blog. Some of the highlights were flying business class for the first time and visiting so many different monuments and museums. I took the most wonderful walking food tour on my first full day in Paris. I was able to figure out the Metro and even went and saw a show at Moulin Rouge. I had some fantastic food and got to know my Paris co-workers through some fun teambuilding activities. However, even with all of these wonderful memories, I still remember nights of such intense homesickness that I still to this day am surprised I made it the full four weeks.

I am proud of myself that I made this journey and was able to accomplish so much on my own. I learned a lot about myself and realized I was a lot stronger then I often give myself credit for. By no means am I saying I was the most outgoing and adventures person while I was in Paris, but I do think that the things I did accomplish were major for me and for that reason, I am happy with the outcome.